Los Angeles (35-22-6) earned its fifth consecutive victory to remain eight points ahead of the Dallas Stars for third place in the Pacific Division.

The winning goal came on the power play when Carter notched his 22nd of the season at 4:14 of the middle frame. Center Anze Kopitar's backhand feed found Carter stationed to the right of Montreal goaltender Peter Budaj, and Carter's one-timer beat Budaj cleanly. Defenseman Alec Martinez drew the secondary assist.

Montreal came close to knotting the game on a late-second-period power play, but winger Alex Galchenyuk's wrist shot from the slot rang off the post to the right of Quick.

Los Angeles had an excellent chance to double the margin on a man advantage in the last minute of the period, but a shot by defenseman Drew Doughty hit the post, and Kopitar shot wide on the rebound.

Los Angeles jumped on top when defenseman Jake Muzzin wristed a shot past Budaj at 1:54 of the opening period. Muzzin joined the play late and was fed by winger Tyler Toffoli for his fifth goal of the season. Budaj stopped the attempt, but the puck trickled into the net after the initial save.

Winger Justin Williams also picked up an assist on the play.

The Canadiens evened matters on defenseman P.K. Subban's 10th goal of the season at 14:45 of the first period. Subban's wrist shot from the right point was stopped by Quick but deflected off Los Angeles forward Jarret Stoll and into the net. Left winger Max Pacioretty and center David Desharnais received the assists.

Montreal dropped the first game of a four-game West Coast road trip and had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Budaj stopped 20 shots in his fourth straight start for in place of injured starting goaltender Carey Price.

NOTES: Canadiens LW Max Pacioretty played in his 300th NHL game. ... Montreal D Davis Drewiske cleared waivers and was sent to AHL Hamilton. ... Montreal did not dress RW George Parros and D Francois Bouillon. ... Los Angeles scratched D Matt Greene, RW Matt Frattin and C Linden Vey. ... The Kings hit Canada for a three=game road trip starting Thursday. They will visit the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. ... Speculation around Kings RW Tyler Toffoli continues ahead of Wednesday's trade deadline. The Kings' top prospect continues to struggle -- he had one goal in 21 games before Monday -- and his name is connected to a potential deal for Buffalo Sabres LW Matt Moulson.